Bombing against secular party in Pakistan kills 4

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrives to present party manifesto leaflets to candidates at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
— AP

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrives to present party manifesto leaflets to candidates at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
/ AP

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrives to present party manifesto leaflets to candidates at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)— AP

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf arrives to present party manifesto leaflets to candidates at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
/ AP

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf, left, shakes hands with Mohammad Amjad after he announces his party manifesto at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)— AP

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf, left, shakes hands with Mohammad Amjad after he announces his party manifesto at his residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, April 15, 2013. Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League APML, party will take part in the upcoming elections scheduled on May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
/ AP

PESHAWAR, Pakistan 
Police say a bomb targeting members of an anti-Taliban political party has killed four people and wounded 20 in northwest Pakistan.

Police officer Zahir Shah says the bomb exploded as key members of the Awami National Party were arriving for a meeting in the city of Peshawar.

The party members included Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and his nephew Haroon Bilour, whose father was one of the most senior ANP leaders and was killed in a suicide attack in December.

Shah said Ghulam Ahmad Bilour was wounded in Tuesday's attack but was in stable condition.

The Pakistani Taliban have specifically threatened to target members of the ANP and two other secular parties in the run-up to parliamentary elections on May 11.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Pakistani judges on Tuesday disqualified Pervez Musharraf from running in the upcoming parliamentary election, a blow to the former military ruler who recently returned from self-imposed exile to make a political comeback, lawyers said.

Over a week ago, a judge in the remote northern district of Chitral gave Musharraf approval to run in the May 11 election, even though he was disqualified in three other districts for suspending the constitution and sacking senior judges while in power.

Pakistan's political system allows a candidate to run for multiple seats simultaneously.

Lawyers challenged the Chitral decision, and on Tuesday a three-member appellate tribunal at the high court in the main northwest city of Peshawar disqualified Musharraf from running in the district, said two of the lawyers who raised objections, Taufiq Asif and Rao Abdur Rahim.

Asif challenged Musharraf's candidacy because of his actions while in power, while Rahim said there were procedural flaws with the former military ruler's nomination.

Musharraf's lawyer, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, said he plans to appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court.

The tribunal's decision is one of the biggest blows in what has been a bumpy return for Musharraf after over four years in self-imposed exile.

Musharraf seized power in a military coup in 1999 and ruled for nearly a decade before he was forced to step down and left the country in 2008 because of growing discontent with his rule. He returned to Pakistan last month to stage a political comeback, but he has been met with low levels of public support, a variety of legal challenges and Taliban death threats.

The former military strongman was only met with a couple thousand people at the airport in the southern city of Karachi when his plane from Dubai landed on March 24, a sign of how little support analysts say he enjoys in the country. A few days later, an angry lawyer threw a shoe at Musharraf as he walked through a court building in Karachi.

Musharraf faces a variety of legal charges, including some related to the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He has not been arrested because he arranged pre-arrest bail before he arrived, a feature of Pakistan's legal system.